---
title: "Mourinho wins on his return to Real Madrid with a 90th-minute goal at Espanyol"
description: "Jude Bellingham headed Real Madrid in front, Alex Calatrava equalised for Espanyol on the half hour, and Carlos Espi, one of six Madrid debutants, turned in a loose ball in the 90th minute. It is Jose Mourinho's first match back at the club he left 13 years ago."
category: "Sports"
category_url: https://newsparlor.com/category/sports
author: "Noah Andersen"
published: 2026-08-22T18:44:40-04:00
updated: 2026-08-22T18:44:40-04:00
canonical: https://newsparlor.com/article/mourinho-wins-on-his-return-to-real-madrid-with-a-90th-minute-goal-at-espanyol
tags: ["la-liga", "real-madrid", "jose-mourinho", "espanyol", "football"]
---
# Mourinho wins on his return to Real Madrid with a 90th-minute goal at Espanyol

Jude Bellingham headed Real Madrid in front, Alex Calatrava equalised for Espanyol on the half hour, and Carlos Espi, one of six Madrid debutants, turned in a loose ball in the 90th minute. It is Jose Mourinho's first match back at the club he left 13 years ago.

Real Madrid beat Espanyol 2-1 at the RCDE Stadium in Barcelona on Saturday, in Jose Mourinho's first match back in charge of the club he left 13 years ago.

Jude Bellingham headed in a crossed free kick from Arda Guler to open the scoring. Alex Calatrava levelled for Espanyol in the 30th minute, finishing a cut-back from Javi Hernandez. Carlos Espi settled it in the 90th, capitalising on a loose ball in the box, [according to Al Jazeera's match report](https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2026/8/22/real-madrid-beat-espanyol-2-1-in-jose-mourinhos-first-game-on-return).

## Six debutants

Al Jazeera lists Bernardo Silva, Denzel Dumfries, Ibrahima Konate, Yan Diomande, Marc Cucurella and Espi himself as making their Madrid debuts.

[ESPN puts Bellingham's goal in the ninth minute](https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/49694751/jose-mourinho-real-madrid-espanyol-laliga-bellingham-carlos-espi) and records Diomande coming off the bench on 64 minutes. It also notes that this was the first time Madrid have started three debutants in an opening league match since 2009, when Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka and Karim Benzema arrived together.

That a summer of this scale ends with the winning goal coming from a debutant off a scramble, rather than from any of the expensive arrivals in open play, is the kind of detail that says more about an opening day than the scoreline does.

## A first game, not a verdict

Neither report carries a quote from Mourinho, which is itself unusual and worth noting rather than filling in.

What the reports describe is a Madrid side that led early, conceded before half-time, did not control the second half, hit the post through Federico Valverde and won it in the last minute. Kylian Mbappe started alongside Vinicius Junior and Bellingham and, in Al Jazeera's assessment, was not at his best.

A team with six players making their debuts is not a team yet. Whatever Mourinho's Madrid becomes, this was not it, and three points on the opening weekend is the only thing that can fairly be concluded.

## Where the accounts differ

Our two sources disagree on the third debutant in the starting eleven: Al Jazeera has Ibrahima Konate, ESPN has Marc Cucurella. Al Jazeera's fuller list includes both men among the debutants, which may explain the discrepancy, but we cannot resolve which of them started.

ESPN also names Espanyol's scorer as Cala where Al Jazeera has Alex Calatrava. These are likely the same player under a short form of the name, and we have used the fuller version.

We have not chosen between the accounts where they conflict, and have said so.

## Sources

- [Real Madrid beat Espanyol 2-1 in Jose Mourinho's first game on return](https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2026/8/22/real-madrid-beat-espanyol-2-1-in-jose-mourinhos-first-game-on-return)
- [Mourinho's Real Madrid return begins with late win at Espanyol](https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/49694751/jose-mourinho-real-madrid-espanyol-laliga-bellingham-carlos-espi)